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Summary: Superb tapestry of Tennessee rural life half a century ago
Review: The battle of good versus evil is woven through three-dimensional characters, young and elderly. Remorseless murderer Dallas Hardin worsens with age, stealing another's wife and trying to prostitute her daughter. Young Nathan Winer, whose father Hardin killed when the boy was very young, violently objects. Elderly William Tell Oliver knows secrets and knows exactly how to help Winer. The unhurried climax literally tightened my nerves until the most satisfying end. --Roy L. Fish, author of short stories and the suspense novel, ICEMAN.
Rating: 
Summary: Delightful writing and plot, predictable ending
Review: The first paragraphs of this book drew me in and I was mesmerized. I couldn't put it down. William Gay's Southern style and original characters are compelling and quirky. Every character, every bit of dialogue and description seemed perfect for the book. It took me a mere few days to read the book and as I reached the end in eager anticipation, I was discouraged and had the overall feeling that the author just kind of winged it and picked an ending out of the "predictable plot" hat. However, his prose is so delightful and so much more real and interesting than most of the "Oprah" books, I can't wait to read his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful writing and plot, predictable ending
Review: The first paragraphs of this book drew me in and I was mesmerized. I couldn't put it down. William Gay's Southern style and original characters are compelling and quirky. Every character, every bit of dialogue and description seemed perfect for the book. It took me a mere few days to read the book and as I reached the end in eager anticipation, I was discouraged and had the overall feeling that the author just kind of winged it and picked an ending out of the "predictable plot" hat. However, his prose is so delightful and so much more real and interesting than most of the "Oprah" books, I can't wait to read his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Literary Reading At It's Best!
Review: The title of this review may seem pretentious, but, as an author, I rejoice in the literary art of story-telling at it's highest level. Mr. Gay, who I had the pleasure of meeting in Nashville at The Southern Festival of the Book, is a masterful story-teller. His characters are lively and real. The inner-workings of the mind and the tenacity of the southern male are reborn in this tale. Though some critics have said his work is Faulknerian in tone, Mr. Gay's prose is far more readable and, in my opinion, lyrical. His love for the area and the people about which he writes are reminiscent of Pat Conroy and his attachment of South Carolina's Low Country. Congratulations to William Gay for a job well done.
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Summary: Will remain in your thoughts
Review: There are very few books that really stay with you long after you've read the last page. By the time you're on to the next subject, the last is forgotten. Not so with "The Long Home". After myriad tales, I came back to "The Long Home"; I felt it was like a movie - if I read it again, I would catch certain things I missed on first perusal. It has a haunting, mystic, blue aura. Can't explain it. Just feel it. Sort of like being in Tennessee at twilight, in the bog, with a light misty rain, while sinister things are happening just out of reach. Although, events take place in "ordinary" time (both day and night), the feeling is still allusive, mystical, mysterious, as well as sinister. Before I use up the supply of adjectives I'll end simply saying this was a great read. Read it without life's noises around you -- give it your full attention. You'll appreciate the work.
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Summary: a great period piece with good characters great story line!
Review: This book contains some darker aspects,murder,betrayal,unfufilled desires and great country humor.Dallas Hardin may be the most unforgettable character.William Gay knits the plot so well, you will not want to stop reading! More please!
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Summary: WOW!
Review: This book just blew me away. Not since "Cold Mountain" have I read such incredibly poetic writing. Note that I said "poetic" and not "pretentious". Because every word in this book rings true, as do the wonderful characters and places within it. If you read anything new this year, this should be it!
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Summary: A Great First Novel
Review: This man paints pictures in your head. Some people write books, some people tell stories and a select few can totally capture your imagination. With a fluid, easy style, William Gay, in his debut novel, falls into the last category. Set in Tennessee in the 1940s, I was transported to a time and place I've never been, yet it felt so familiar. I definitely want more of the same. Keep 'em coming please.
Rating: 
Summary: Southern gothic gone wrong
Review: Unlike the currently posted reviewers, you'll have to count me out of the fan club! I found this one with too obvious first novel heavy-handedness. Hardin, the evil central character, is drawn without subtlety or texture (and, hence, without believability ). From the portentious opening scene where the earth opens up to the cast of ineffectuals who surround Hardin, I didn't buy any of it. I found myself skimming through long sections while awaiting Hardin's inevitable comeuppance. Cormac McCarthy and our other great writers of the trials of rough country living can rest easy 'til William Gay settles down to a more nuanced vision.
Rating:
Summary: I Look Forward To The Next
Review: When an Author can open a work with massive explosions from deep within the Earth that leave behind a gaping black pit that smells of brimstone, and not make the portrayal absurd, it is a reasonable presumption that you have the work of great storyteller in your hands. And this is certainly the case with Mr. William Gay and his work, "The Long Home". The story contains elements and actions that you have read before, the conflict between good and bad/evil, fear that prevents proper conduct, revenge and redemption, all are not unfamiliar ground. However, Mr. Gay makes his own mix of these elements and creates a story that is his and not just another derivative knockoff. From the explosive pit that becomes both a crypt and a pathway that delivers what will be the truth, to the evil player with the yellow eyes of a goat, the Author definitely sets his story as a battle between opposing forces with Capital Letters. The story, which is set in Tennessee, is not the typical slow motion trek through the oppressive heat of the South. That may seem like a minor point, but it is indicative of the Author's attention to detail and a portrayal that is not what is generally expected. He embeds the evil character with the appropriate darkness by sharing the story of his birth, which is anything other than routine, and perhaps not for the squeamish. The book has a great cadence as the Author unfolds his story at a pace that varies and is consistent with the level of tension and movement of events that unfold. The book provides all the suspense and conflict a book of this genre requires but it does not become contrived in an effort to make you race through the pages. Events unfold with credibility, and the results when unwound are credible as well. This is the first work for this Author, however he has a new work out, and it will be added to my reading list.
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